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Journal of Emerging Markets and Management

Digital Commerce Adoption in Ghana: A Scoping Review of Trends, Drivers, Barriers, and Enablers

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63385/jemm.v2i3.101095

Keywords:

E-Commerce,Ghana Digital Commerce,Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME) E-Commerce Adoption,Barriers to Adoption,Mobile Money Integration

Abstract

The digital economy in Ghana has grown exponentially over the last decade, driven by rising rates of mobile and internet penetration, the growth of fintech and mobile money services, the unexpected pandemic, and the integration of social media into the Ghanaian economic landscape. Nevertheless, scientific evidence that synthesises and maps out literature on digital commerce in the region remains limited. This study conducts a scoping review of digital commerce in Ghana, focusing on empirical literature on the trends, barriers, and enablers that define e-commerce and social commerce adoption in Ghana. Following the five-stage Arksey and O'Malley framework for scoping reviews and the PRISMA ScR guidelines, a structured search was conducted across Scopus, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and Ghanaian repositories, covering publications from 2010 to 2025. 220 relevant studies were retrieved, of which 80 studies qualified for inclusion. The findings show that digital commerce in Ghana is uneven, hybrid, combining online and offline modes of commerce. We observed that firm-level adoption was driven by perceived performance benefits, management/government support, organisational readiness, and competitiveness, while consumer adoption was driven by perceived usefulness/convenience, effort/facilitating conditions, social influences, trust, and digital literacy skills. However, adoption remains constrained by high costs/finance, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)/logistics infrastructure, regulatory fragmentation, and consumer protection issues remain as challenges for digital commerce in Ghana. This study contributes by providing a structured synthesis of fragmented evidence base by highlighting the role of infrastructure and institutional context in influencing digital adoption to inform more targeted policy interventions and future research directions.

References


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    Copyright (c) Copyright © 2026 Vanessa Enyonam Amenyawu, Vivian Amoako Osafo, Nathan Awelama Atigah, Naa Adjeley Sackey

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    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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